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A lovely summery fragrance that smells divine

**Introduction and reason for purchase**As most readers of my reviews are probably well aware by now I love beauty items and even more so if they are from my favourite french beauty company Yves Rocher. A few months ago I was sent 3 small vials of a new range of EDT's that were to be launched immanently and having been enchanted by all three I subsequently ordered larger versions when I next placed an order with them.

As I always repeat in YR reviews I tend to order from them every few months and take full advantage of any offers they may have at the time (which is fairly frequently) of BOGOF or 40/ 50/ 75% off. As I have been a customer most of my adult life I also have a 3 month credit account with them meaning I can go ahead and order and see if the products are suitable for my skin etc before paying in full 3 months later.

This review focuses on an unlikely fragrance choice for myself which is 'Purple Lilac EDT' and here's my thoughts on using the product..

**What Yves Rocher have to say about this**"..Discover the gentle fragrance of fresh picked Purple Lilac in this eau de toilette with floral, powdery notes that leave your skin delicately scented. It is the scent of lilac at daybreak.."

**Price, packaging & availability**As per usual this and all other Yves Rocher products can be purchased in the following ways:

*Online @www.yves-rocher.co.uk with it's user friendly site**By phoning their customer service/ orderline number on 0870 049 22 22***By shopping in one of their stores that are dotted about in major cities****Through their mail order leaflets *****By checking out Ebay which often has products at much cheaper prices including discontinued favourites

The fragrance itself is presented in a slimline rectangular box in a sedate grey colour depicting a floral scene of lilac flowers. To be honest it's appearance is a little off putting as it looks like something a much more mature person may wear (no offense meant, I mean ladies practically nearing 100 years old!) The bottle itself is much more modern and is in a simplistic but equally attractive rectangular shaped bottle with softly rounded edges and is in a deep purple colour though the glass does retain some transparency so the contents are still visible. There is a pretty embossed circular motif on the front with the name in french underneath in an easy to read clear font but apart from this there is no other decoration apart from the silver lid placed on top of the bottle which protects the nozzle underneath.

I was taken in with this EDT when I tested the small 2.5ml vial though at the time I admit I preferred the Rose EDT (see separate review) so ordered the smaller travel size bottle as opposed to the larger size Rose.

For the travel size 20ml it is currently priced at £12and for the larger sized 100ml it costs £22

**My experience of using this EDT**I'm a sucker for a bargain and certainly don't need my arm twisting when it comes to buying new toiletries - especially perfumes - so when these EDT's were on introductory half price offer I bought a bottle of each. The three vials in the Un Matin Au Jardin collection were:

*Fresh Rose*Purple Lilac*Citrus Flower

All three are available in EDT format only and come in the two sizes of 20ml and 100ml with a plethora of matching products to match if interested.

On removing the petite bottle from it's slightly dated packaging I was pleased to see it's appearance had a somewhat modern and fresh look with the bottle being really quite quaint. I'm not normally a big fan of lilac/ lavender fragranced products though I don't dislike the scent it's just not something I go out of my way to use, so I was quite surprised that I liked how this came across when I tried the sample and found myself ordering the 20ml bottle thinking the Fresh Rose would be my favourite of the 3 and would get more wear.

On removing the tight fitted silver lid I was greeted with a faint floral aroma from the nozzle and this was before I'd sprayed the EDT. I was impressed at how delicate it was and spritzed the fragrance on to my neck and wrists.

The first thing that struck me was how contemporary and up to date Purple Lilac actually came across as. I'd tested the vial a few times and had been quite taken with it's floral theme but the EDT bottle seemed much fresher and crisper and strangely enough not *too* floral if that makes sense. The fragrance seems cool and crisp on applying but once the dry down begins in does indeed seem to turn more powdery and softer as YR describe it before finishing off on a deeper base which to me is quite musky.

**Recommendations?**The initial blast of Purple Lilac is quite strong - as are most of YR perfumes/EDT's which appear strong at first before fading quite quickly. My experience of these EDT sprays though has been quite positive with the initial strength lasting for about 10 minutes before only slightly fading then lasting delicately for at least 3 hours before needing to reapply.

I think the longevity of Purple Lilac is quite impressive given it does fade to a more subtle scent during the dry down but that depth of fragrance then remains for (as just mentioned) almost 3 hours. The small bottle makes it ideal to pop in my bag as it's such a compact design and the glass is very thick so the bottle is sturdy enough to withstand being 'battered about' against the rest of the contents in there.

I really like this fragrance and it just shows that small sample vials can be deceiving as the bottle spray version has a slightly different aroma once it's applied though I was equally as impressed with the sample size as I wouldn't have gone ahead and ordered a bigger bottle in the first place.

This Purple Lilac fragrance really changed my opinion of floral perfumes as I don't normally find myself drawn to them (apart from anything rose based, which I adore) but this smells so incredibly fresh and natural it's hard not to like it as the lilac doesn't come across as fake or artificially scented at all so isn't too overpowering.

I would highly recommend this Purple Lilac EDT as it's stylish, novel and fresh and one of my current favourite fragrances. It's not the sort of scent I would opt to wear on an evening or for a special occasion as I do prefer musky/ oriental perfumes for such occasions though for casual day time wearing it's ideal and I've had several compliments from people asking what fragrance I'm wearing when I've been out and about which to me is a recommendation in itself.